Sir

5^th November is celebrated as World Tsunami Awareness day in all over the world. This is the first time that World Tsunami Awareness Day is being celebrated. After the traumatic impact of tsunamis on coastal areas around the Indian Ocean in December 2004 that killed up to 230,000 people, and on the Japanese coast in March 2011 that killed some 16,000 people. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 5 November 2016 the first official World Tsunami Awareness Day.

The date for the annual celebration was chosen in honour of the Japanese story of “Inamura-no-hi”, meaning the “burning of the rice sheaves”. During 1854 earthquake, a farmer saw the tide receding, a sign of a looming tsunami. He set fire to his entire harvest to warn villagers, who fled to high ground. Afterwards, he built an embankment and planted trees as a buffer against future waves.

The main global event for World Tsunami Awareness Day will the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (2-5 November) in New Delhi, India. Many activities like exhibitions, and distribution of awareness materials and other events are scheduled to take place around the world. This day will help to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and will also stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the often devastating natural hazard

“It also aims at reviving traditional knowledge about tsunamis.

The Assembly called on all countries, international bodies and civil society to observe the day, in order to raise tsunami awareness and share innovative approaches to risk reduction.

Yours truly

Seema Kumari, BMC 3^rd year, St. Xavier’s College of Management and Technology, Digha, Patna

  development, letters